How We Help

How We Help Social Security Disability Claimants

At Samaritan Disability, our focus is on representing claimants from Initial Application all the way through to Approval. We help these claimants by:

1. Assistance with the Initial Application

Perhaps the most important part of the entire Social Security Disability process is the Initial Application. This can be done online, and involves a full disclosure of your recent medical treatment and health problems. It also involves detailed questions about your job experience, family situation, and finances. The Initial Application contains questions about things like your Onset Date and Activities of Daily Living, which can have a big affect on how much you get awarded and how much functional capacity the government believes you can do. All of these factors are weighed carefully by the government when evaluating whether to approve your case or not. Professional guidance may increase the chance of approval and save you from the pain of the appeals process.

2. Filing any necessary appeals

If a claim gets denied, there is only 60 days to file an appeal, so time is of the essence. This can be particularly important if it is close to the 5-year limit of a claimant insured status. If the appeal is late, then generally that means you the claimant must start all over again. However, sometimes Social Security will accept a late appeal if there is good cause, such being in the hospital or out of the country visiting family.

The appeals usually require the completion of an Adult Disability Report, which asks about medical conditions and treatment, as well as any changes in symptoms. We assist with the completion of this form and can file the response.

3. Developing a winning theory

We begin to evaluate a new case by reviewing the reason for denial. It is not always clear from the denial letter language why a claim was rejected, but many times we can deduce the reason.
Next we analyze the claim legal and medical issues and try to think of ways to win the case that the claimant may not have considered.

Finally, we evaluate the claimant chances of survival in the real world of work (as opposed to the artificial one concocted by SSA). If we are convinced that the claimant is never going to work again, we work hard to come up with a theory of the case that will convince SSA to award benefits.

4. Obtaining medical evidence

Many claimants, especially those with complicated medical histories, fail to provide a complete list of medical providers.So first we make sure that the hearing exhibit file contains all the relevant medical evidence.

Next we gather medical evidence that is relevant to the claimant disabling impairments but does not duplicate what is already in the hearing exhibit file.

If medical records exist that detract from our theory of the case, we refine our theory to explain those records.

The most important medical evidence is usually opinion evidence. Using an extensive list of medical source statements that we created and refined over the years, we get an opinion from the claimant doctor about the nature and severity of the claimant impairments symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, physical or mental restrictions, and what the claimant can still do.

Educating the claimant doctor about the treating doctor role in a disability case is an important aspect of this task, and we have pre-drafted memoranda that help.

5. Preparing for the hearing

When the hearing date is approaching, we assemble the medical exhibits, verify that we have identified and are prepared to address all of the issues in the case, and prepare the witnesses and claimant to testify.

Witness preparation is one of our most important and difficult jobs that we perform. Many common-sense arguments that seem logical to witnesses and claimants are irrelevant to SSA disability determination.
For example, when asked why he unable to do a sit-down job, an unprepared claimant may reply that he not qualified for sedentary work, there aren’t any unskilled sedentary jobs available or that he never get a job like that. Considering the small size of the unskilled sedentary occupational base, these aren’t bad answers. But the judge may view any answer not immediately addressing physical or mental capacity for sedentary work as an implied admission that the claimant has the capacity for unskilled sedentary work.
Preparing claimants and witnesses to testify is a big job with too many elements to explain here.Know that we have prepared many.

6. Presenting a persuasive case

In a nutshell, at the hearing I give an opening statement, question the claimant and witnesses, and cross-examine any vocational expert. If the judge signals that an issue exists, we address the problem.
Claimant testimony is the heart of the hearing, and is frequently decisive. I take the claimant through his background, detail his work experience, establish the claimant’s current medical condition, fully develop the current medical treatment, and most important, elicit a detailed description of the claimant physical symptoms. Lastly, we ask the claimant about his activities of daily living.

Next we have several witnesses corroborate and add to the claimant’s testimony. We emphasize their observations and limit their conclusions, leaving it to the judge to draw his own. Obtaining before and after testimony from witnesses is frequently an effective way to make the case.

Experience matters

We have been preparing and presenting Social Security disability cases since 2006, and have learned what works in a hearing and what does not.

If you need help with an appeal or representation at a disability hearing, we would be happy to evaluate your claim at no charge.If your claim meets our office standards, we will put all of our resources and experience to work on your behalf.

Call 916-246-2946 or use the contact form to the right today for a free consultation.We hope we can be of assistance!